As you can see in galleries 1 and
2 of this exhibition, the British empire spread far and wide
in many parts of the world. However, British rule was very different
in different parts of the empire. For example, in North America
and Australia the British and European settlers were much more
of a dominant force than the settlers in India. As a result,
North America and Australia had a different relationship with
Britain than India did. This also helps to explain why these
territories, along with South Africa and New Zealand, became
the first to rule themselves. They did not leave the empire
entirely, but they became self-ruling countries called Dominions.

Canada

The first of the Dominions was Canada.
Throughout the 1800s huge numbers of European settlers from
Britain, Ireland and other parts of Europe poured into British
North America (as it was officially called). They soon outnumbered
the Native American peoples and turned much of Canada's open
plains into fenced-off farms. By the mid 1800s British North
America was a collection of separate provinces - Newfoundland,
Upper Canada (modern Ontario) and Lower Canada (modern Quebec).
New provinces, like British Columbia and the North West Territories,
also opened up as the century wore on.

Image 1

Frontispiece of the British
North America Act, which created Canada as the first self-governing
Dominion within the British empire (Catalogue ref: CO 44/115)

By the 1860s the settlers who lived
in British North America felt that the time was right for Canada
to rule itself. Britain was anxious that Canada did not rebel
against them like the USA had done in the 1770s. In 1867 Britain
passed the British North America Act. The provinces of British
North America became a federation called Canada. Canada ruled
itself, but was closely linked to the British empire through
trade and industry and also through strong links between Canadians
and their families in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England.

The relationship
between the Dominions and Britain

The next Dominion was Australia.
Settlers in Australia developed a strong sense of identity
as "Australians" during the second half of the 19th century,
and by 1901 Australia too had became a federation of territories
making up one Dominion.

Australia and Canada had family
and commercial links between them. They also had strong military
links with Britain. The Royal Navy protected their shores
and their trade. In return Australian and Canadian troops
came to Britain's help in the Boer War and the two world wars.

One of the greatest concerns for
Britain was how to hold these new countries together in the
empire. In 1902 the government brought in a series of trade
tariffs (taxes). These tariffs tried to encourage trade between
the empire countries. At the same time they made it more expensive
to trade with countries outside the empire. Britain also tried
to keep the Dominions together on political issues. The first
Imperial Conference was held in 1911. This involved the leaders
of Britain, the Dominions and New Zealand. By this time, South
Africa had also become a self-ruling Dominion.
These countries retained a great deal of loyalty to Britain.
When the First World War (1914-18) engulfed the world, they
sent thousands of troops to fight in Europe and the Middle
East. They did so again in the Second World War (1939-45).

Image 2

Photo of ANZAC troops
(Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) in the Western Desert
during the Second World War, 1942(Catalogue ref: INF 1/244)

The Statute
of Westminster

In 1931 the Statute of Westminster
officially gave the Dominions the full power to rule
themselves, although in practice they already did this. The
Dominions were completely independent states. By this stage
the Irish Free State had also become a Dominion, although
Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom.

There was controversy in Britain
over the Statute. Winston Churchill led a number of MPs who
bitterly opposed it. Churchill felt that Britain owed its
greatness to the empire and that the Statute weakened Britain
dangerously. However, he was completely out of step with the
views of most British people and most British MPs. The fact
was that most of the Dominion countries already ruled themselves.
The Statute of Westminster was mainly designed to sort out
red tape. There were sometimes legal complications because
the constitutions of the Dominions said that on some issues
the Dominions had to get permission from the British Parliament
to pass certain laws. The Statute of Westminster simply allowed
the Dominions to pass any laws they wished to pass without
having to consult the British Parliament.

There was also some debate about
the issue in New Zealand, which did not accept the Statute
until 1944, but in general there was a strong feeling that
the time was right. As far as the Dominions were concerned,
the British empire ended by a peaceful process of legal independence
given by Britain. The major exception to this was in Ireland
(see case study 4 in this gallery).